Beijing 'would welcome' U.S. joining China-led bank - report

A general view of the signing ceremony of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2014. REUTERS/Takaki Yajima

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chinese deputy finance minister Shi Yaobin has told a German newspaper his country would welcome the United States joining a new China-led Asian development bank.

“We would welcome the USA joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),” he said, according to an advance copy of an article due to be published in business daily Handelsblatt on Thursday.

The United States has urged countries to think twice before signing up to the AIIB, which it sees as a rival to the World Bank, after Germany, France and Italy followed Britain in saying they would join.

According to Yaobin, such concerns are unjustified.

“The AIIB will not compete with the World Bank - rather the new bank will play a supporting role for other international institutions,” he said.

China wanted to learn from the way these other institutions worked and, if possible, copy “the good rules” such as those on environmental and governmental standards as well as some procurement standards, said Yaobin.